Walz, Vance campaign in Wisconsin on last day of campaign
Nearly 40 presidential campaign rallies have been held in Wisconsin since just late July, with the last few taking place the Monday before the election.
“The next vice president of the United States, my husband Tim Walz,” said Gwen Walz, introducing her husband, vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz at a rally in La Crosse, the first of three planned Wisconsin rallies for Walz on Monday.
He urged voters to turn the page on former Republican President Donald Trump. “I know there’s a lot of anxiety, but the decisions that are made over the next 24 to 36 hours when the polls close will shape not just the next four years, they will shape the coming generations,” Walz said at the rally.
Two hours earlier Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance made his last Wisconsin campaign stop in La Crosse.
“I know we’re close to Minnesota, so you guys know Governor Tim Walz well,” he told Trump supporters before telling them why Walz has such a tough job. “It’s crazy to me that Kamala Harris pretends to be the person who somehow is going to change the direction of the country even though she’s the sitting vice president of the United States,” Vance said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Carleton College political analyst Steven Schier says it makes sense for the Harris campaign to have Walz in Wisconsin on the final day. “Walz is known particularly in western Wisconsin and he can play up that familiarity to help Harris there,” he says, “so putting Tim Walz in Wisconsin the last day is probably a wise move.”
Wisconsin is usually a key state in determining the winner of the presidential race. Trump won the state by less than a point in 2016 and Democrat Joe Biden won by less than a point in 2020.
Walz spent Sunday night at home in Minnesota before greeting invited guests at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport who were there to send him and his family off on their final campaign swing.